Rigorous assessment. Confident approvals.
An environmental impact assessment (EIA) is the process through which the potential environmental effects of a proposed project are identified, evaluated and addressed — producing the documentation that regulators need to make informed approval decisions and that proponents need to demonstrate that their project has been designed to minimise environmental harm. In Western Australia, EIAs are required under the Environmental Protection Act 1986 (WA) for proposals referred to the EPA for formal assessment, and under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) for proposals likely to have a significant impact on matters of national environmental significance. Trace Ecology prepares EIAs that are thorough, scientifically defensible and structured to move through the assessment process as efficiently as possible.
We deliver environmental impact assessments for developers, miners, exploration companies, infrastructure builders and government agencies across WA and the NT — managing projects from initial environmental scoping and referral through to formal assessment, public consultation, condition negotiation and final approval. Our multidisciplinary team of botanists, zoologists, ecologists, marine biologists and freshwater biologists covers the full spectrum of environmental values that an EIA must assess — giving clients a single, integrated assessment team rather than the fragmented approach of multiple specialist subconsultants.
Our EIA process begins with a thorough environmental scoping exercise — identifying all environmental values present in and around the project area, assessing the nature and scale of the project's potential impacts on those values and determining what baseline data, specialist surveys and technical studies are required to support the assessment. We design and conduct all required field surveys — flora and fauna surveys, vegetation condition assessments, targeted threatened species surveys, aquatic assessments, soils and water assessments and any other technical investigations required — and integrate the results into a coherent, technically rigorous environmental impact document.
For proposals referred to the EPA under Part IV of the Environmental Protection Act 1986, we prepare environmental review documents, manage the public review process and engage with the EPA throughout the assessment to address queries and provide supplementary information. For proposals requiring EPBC Act referral, we prepare the referral documentation and manage the Commonwealth assessment process — including responding to information requests from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) and engaging with bilateral assessment arrangements where applicable.
Where environmental offsets are required to compensate for residual impacts on significant environmental values, our team provides offset strategy advice and offset site assessment — helping clients satisfy offset conditions in the most cost-effective way possible.
Trace Ecology is a division of Trace Enterprises — Perth's only fully integrated heritage, environmental and planning consultancy. Where your EIA also triggers heritage assessment requirements, our Trace Archaeology team is ready to step in.
EXPLORE SOME OF OUR OTHER SERVICES
All Heritage Services >
All Environmental Services >
All Urban & Regional Planning Services >
Every heritage and environmental project starts with the right conversation.
Whatever your heritage or environmental project needs, Trace Archaeology and Trace Ecology is ready to help. Talk to our team today — no obligation.